Silo-door frame.



C. J. LAWLESS.

SILO DOOR FRAME. APPLIOATION FILED JAN.15, 1912.

1,093,635. Patented Apr. 21, 1914u JZ J4 i (if mmmmm m55/ WZ; -4 y l l Arfrney AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA c.

CHRISTOPHER J. LAWLESS, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

SILO-DOOR FRAME.

inaacsa Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914:.

Application led January 15, 1912. Serial No. 671,287.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER J. LAW- Lnss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State o-f Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Silo-Door Frame, of which the following is a specification.

r1`he device forming the subject matter of this application is a silo door and one object of the invention is to provide no-vel means whereby the door, to facilitate the opening thereof, may be moved vertically, to permit the door to clear the ensilage, and to permit any one door to clear another door, with which the first specified door is interengaged by beveling or otherwise.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the door may be trued up upon the door supporting hanger, to aline the door with the door opening in the silo structure.

1t is within the scope of the invention to improve generally and to enhance the utility of, devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention,

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows in front elevation, a portion of a silo to which the door constituting the subject matter of this application has been applied; Fig. 2 is a transverse section, showing the door opened, and swung to one side of the door opening; Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the door opened, and swung to the opposite side of the door opening; Fig. 4 is a transverse section showing the door in closed position; Fig. 5 is a perspective View of one member of the door frame; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one hanger, the constituent parts thereof being separated; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the bolt-throw.

' 1n the accompanying drawings, the stiles of the doorway in the silo are designated The cross pieces which define the door opening' are denoted generally by the numeral 10, one of these cross pieces being shown in detail in Fig. 5. The cross piece .10 is of trough shape and adjacent its ends is provided with vertical primary fianges 11 which are secured to the inner edges of the stiles 12. The ends 14 of the cross piece 10 constitute secondary flanges which are overlapped upon and secured to the outer faces of the stiles 12.

A door 15 is shown, the same in the present .instance comprising cross panels 16 and upright reinforcing beams 17. For the support of the door 15 there is provided a handle 1S comprising a body 20, an upper arm 19 and a lower arm 80. The extremity of the upper arm 19 is rotatably received in the upper cross piece 10 and the extremity of the lower arm 30 is rotatably received in a bearing 32 secured to the lower cross piece 10. The lower arm 30 is arched outwardly to form a step 33. The ends of the arms 19 and 30 are connected with the cross pieces 10 in a line slightly to one side of the longitudinal center of the doorway. Mounted upon one of the reinforcing beams 17 of the door 15, adjacent the lower end thereof is a bearing 21 in which the body portion 2O of the hanger 18 is received for rotation and for longitudinal sliding movement in the directio-n o-f the length of the body portion 20. Mounted on the said reinforcing beam 17, adjacent the upper end thereof, is a composite bearing, the constituent elements of which are depicted in Fig. 6. This bearing comprises a plate 22 and a plate 24, the plates being provided with terminal offsets 25 forming a socket in which the body 2O of the hanger 18 is received for rotation and for longitudinal sliding movement. The plates 22 and 211 are equipped with slots 26 extended substantially at right angles to the body portion 2O of the hanger; Bolts 27 pass vthrough the slots 26 and. enter the reinforcing beam 17. At its inner end, the plate 2d is equipped with a rectangularly disposed flange 28 into which is threaded a screw 29, the screw 29`being adapted to bear upon the edge of the reinforcing beam 17 to which the plates 22 and 24k are secured.

Mounted upon the door 15 is a transverse by the reference character 12, the stiles being handle 34, whereby .the door may be mafaced upon their outer surfaces and upon nipulated. At this point it may be stated that their adjacent edges with L-shaped rein- 'the handle 31 cooperates with the step 33 forcing strips 39.

to form the rungs of a ladder whereby the silo may be ascended. The door 15 is held in a closed position by means of a pair of locking bolts 3G and 37 cooperating the stiles 12, as shown in Fig. 1, the bolts 36 and 37 being actuated by a rotary bolt-throw 40 to which the inner ends of the bolts are pivoted, the bolt-throw being journaled on the door 15. Suppose that any door 15 in the silo is to be swung inwardly. It is obvious that if this operation is to take place, the ensilage must be cut away accurately and carefully, to a plane coinciding with the lower edge of the door 15, presupposing that the door has no vertical sliding movement. It is to be observed that, in the present invention, the door 15 may be raised vertically, the bearingsQl and 22-2e moving along the body 20 of the hanger 18. Therefore, any door 15 may be swung to an open position without cutting the ensilage down to a plane coinciding exactly to the lower edge of the door. Further, it is common in this art to bevel the upper` and lower edges of the doors so that these edges of the doors overlap. Under the circumstances above pointed out, any one door cannot be opened until the door immediately above or below has been raised sufliciently to permit the bevels to clear. Gwing Vto the slidable mounting of each door, upon the body 2O of the hanger 18, as hereinbefore described, any one door, as will be understood readily may be raised slightly, thereby permitting the next interloclred door to be swung into an open position.

The hinge Zit- 22 shown in Fig. 6, owing to the slot and bolt connection 26-27, is mounted to slide transversely of the body 2O of the hanger 18. Owing to this construetion the door 15 may be trued up, so as to tit properly in the doorway. The bolt 529 constitutes a movable abutment, coperating with one reinforcing beam 17, which may be considered as a fixed abutment, not only servesto hold the door 15 in position after it has been trued up but, as well, to move the door positively, thereby effecting the truing- `up operation.

So far as the general construction and operation of the door is concerned, the same will be understood readily from Figs. 2 and 3, from which it will be evident that, through the `medium of the hanger 18, the

` door may be swung to one side or the other of the doorway, within the contour of the silo.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2 of the drawings it will be observed that the horizontal arm of the hanger 18 is of sickleshape and comprises a head and an extension, the door 15 being pivoted to the end of the extension. One end of the head is pivoted to the door frame and the other end of the head, as will be observed by comparing Fig. 2 with Fig. 1, engages the bottom of the door frame when the door is open. A support for the door is thus afforded at a point remote from the pivotal connection between the head and the frame, a vertical bending of the hanger being thereby prevented.V Further, the extension to which the door 15 is pivot-ed constitutes a part of an angle into which the edge of the door may be swung, reference still being had to Fig. Owing to the features above mentioned, the door may be swung outwardly, referring to Fig. Q, so that the same will lie flat against the inside of the silo, and at the same time, the hanger will not be forced inwardly by the door, and therefore the snpport-ing engagement between one end of the head of the hanger and the bottom of the door frame will not be broken,

Sundry features claimed specifically in this application are claimed broadly in my co-pending application, Serial No. 801,902, tiled Nov. 1E), 1913.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a silo, a door frame; a door therefor; and a sickle-shaped hanger comprising a head and an extension, one end of the head being pivoted to the frame, and the door being pivoted to the extension; the other end of the head engaging the frame to support the doei' when the same is open, and the extension defining an angle with the head, into which the edge of the door may retire.

9.. ln a silo, stiles defining a doorway; trough-shaped cross-pieces disposed transversely of the dooorway, the ends of the npper and lower walls of each e1.oss-piecebeing bent in opposite. directions to form primary flanges lying against the adjacent edges of the stiles to render the cross-pieces eliicient ast 1aces preventing a distortion of the doorway, the front wall of each cross-piece being terminally extended to form secondary anges which overlap the outer faces of the stiles; securing elements uniting all of the flanges with the stiles; bearings secured to the intermediate portions of the cross-pieces; a hanger engaged with the bearings; and a door mounted on the hanger.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, l have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHRSTOPHER J. LAXVLESS.

Witnesses YV. M. MORNING, PEARL STEPHENS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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